Cooling and fragmenting apparatus and method



June 26, 1923. 1,459,947 l H. c. cRoNE-MEYER I COOLING AND FRAGMENTINQAPPARATUS AND METHD v Filed July 10, 41922 5 Sheets-Sheej. 1 v

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June l26, 1923;

H. C. CRONEMEYER COOLING AND FRAGMENTING 'APPARATUS A-ND METHOD Filed July l0. 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 l/V VEN T01? w m W w June 2s, 1923.

,459..947 H. c. CRONEMEYER COOLING AND FRAGMENTING APPARATUS AND METHOD 3 Sheets-Sheet 5' Filed July 1o. 1922 wm/Tal? wl TNESSES milita 'June 26,1923.

NlTED STLQL'I'ES` l 1,459,947 PATENT ori-ucr..

HENRY C. CRONEMEYER, 0F BEAVER, PENNSYLVANIA.

COOLING AND FRAGMENTING APPARATUS METHOD.

Application led JulyI 10, 1922. Serial No. 573,880.

Toallwhomz'tma concern.'

Be it known t at I, HENRY C. CRoNE- MEYER, residing at Beaver, in the county of,

-nace in such way that it shall be divided and discharged in pieces or lumps small enough that it maybe readily handled and used, without the labor heretofore necessar in breaking it up after it has cooled an solidified in the open air,or has been cooled by other devices now in vogue. f

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a medial, sectional plan View of the apparatus. 'Figure 2 is a sectional elevation on the line II-II of Figure 1. Figure 3 is an end view showing the driving mechanism; Figure 4 is a cross sectional elevation on the line IV-IV of Figure 1.

Broadl considered, the apparatus embodies a ox or tank structure or casing, to

, receive the molten slag, the walls of which spirally grooved rollers or drums 10; these are water-cooled, and within the structure, and cooperating with its inner walls and with each other, there are arranged a plurality of spirally grooved rollers which, by their rotation, serve to transport the slag from the hot end or entrance end of the box or casing to the opposite end where the cooled slag is discharged.' In the course of such transportation the slag. solidifies and is fragmented. rI'he lbox or casing l-'iS composed oside walls 2, 2, and end walls 3, 3, preferably made in sections-4', which in this case are shown as castin having within them' the-pipes for the How of the cooling water or other fluid. In a word, these sections lare bosh plates. Thevwater is introduced through a water main 5, from which branch pi es 6 .lead tothe vpipes 7 in the walls. of t e chamber, and the water is discharged from the pipes 7 throughthe pipes 8 to the return mam 9.

In the present case I have shown four rollers are also shown to be castin having wit-hin and adjacent to their sur aces two sets of pipes 11 and 12, arranged as indicated, in the form vof a double spiral, the pipes 11 following the protuberances or ridges upon the surfaces of the rollers and the pipes 12 the grooves or depressions in these surfaces. Water is supplied to these pipes from the main supply pipe 5 leading into trance chamber 13, and this water is discharged again through the hollow shaft at the opposite end of each roller into the discharge main 14. T he rollers are so arranged relatively to each other that the protuberances and grooves of the rollers are in vthe hollow shaft of each roller and to the enregister and the spaces or passes'between adjacent rollers are o f uniform width throughout, This may be accomplished by forming the spirals upon the two rollers of each pair as spirals extending in the same direction and by rotatin the two rollsv of eachA pair in the same irection and further, as between pairs, making opposite the directions in which the spirals extend and making opposite the directions of rotation also. The directions of rotation are indicated by the arrows I, Figure 3.

Though the corrugations upon the surfaces of adjacent rollers engage one another, or at least are in register, the roller surfaces do not actually touch, and the roller surfaces though arranged closely adjacent do not touch the top, bottom, and side walls of the chamber. There are thus formed between the adjacent rollers and between the rollers and the chamber walls constricted spaces through which the molten slag is impelled by the rotation of the rollers and is broken up as it cools and solidifies, and the rotation of the rollers at the same time serves to prevent clo ging of these spaces, so that the slag impe ling and cooling alpparatus is essentially self-feeding. s shown in Figure 3, the rollers are driven by means of a yshaft 15, connected to a suit# able source of power and having'bevel gears- 16 meshing with bevel gearsf17 on countershafts 18. Counter-shafts 18 carry pinions speed of rotation are so proportioned that be apparent from the foregoing description.

The molten slag is run into the machine through trough 24 (which extends acrossthe' width of the chamber) and enters the cooling chamber, the sides, top and bottom of which are water cooled. Within this chamber rotate the four water-cooled rollers 10 with spiral grooves on their periphery. These rollers come close tothe walls of the chamber, but do not touch them. Also the grooves and ridges .of adjacent rollers mesh, but do not touch. There are thus formedbetween the rotating rollers and the chamber walls a numberof annular spaces, into which the molten mass flows from the Water-cooled entrance hopper 24. As the rollers 10 rotate, the spiral ridges force the material toward the discharge opening 25. The cross section of the grooves'and the the material is kneaded and crowded and crushed and crumbled as it solidiies and is delivered in crumbled condition.`

As the heat transmission between the material under treatment and the instrumentalities which engage it increases with their movement, relative to each other, and with constantly changing surface contact, the heat absorption by the water in the rollers and in the chamber walls is rapid, and the m'olten slag is quickly cooled and solidified and fragmentedl v p In addition to causing the slag to advance toward the discharge end of the machine,

. the spiral'conto'ur of the' rollersurfaces serves to prevent the formation of ridges of slag on the chamber walls, lbut constantlv sweeps the mass onward. y

It will be'apparent that this apparatus is lsusceptible of considerable modification. I

have shown both the tank Walls and the rollers in the form of castings. This is preferred 1n order to give them sufficient strength to .resist the heavy wear to which they are subjected, but it will be understood in some instances that the rollers may be hollow and the-tank `walls also may be made up of hol? lou1 box-like sections of any other construction suitable to permit the necessary degree of cooling.

I have made this invention with the problem of cooling, solidifying, and crushing slag in mind,-particularly blast-furnace slag. But, having now described t-he in- .vention, in that particular application, it

remains to be remarked, that the apparatus may be employedto accomplish in continuous operation the rapid cooling, solidiying, and reducing to -fragments of molten or substantially molten substances of various sorts,-including substances in plastic condition due to heat. This observation indicates that my invention is suitable for the treatment of slags from whatever source, Whether blast furnace of otherwise, andis applicable to the treatment, not of by-products only, but even to the treatment 0f the metal itself, where fragmentation into lumps of moderate size and somewhat irregular form is desired or adequate for further ends.

I claim as my invention:

1. Solidifying and ragmenting apparatus includinga casing and two pairs of rollers mounted .on parallel axes lying within a single plane and arranged within the casing, the rollers of each pair rotatable in the same direction and the direction of rotation as between the pairs being opposite, said rollers beings provided with spiral surface corru- -gations, the corrugations of the two rollers of each pair being in register, and said rollers being spaced at -intervals from the inner wall of the casing and from one another.

2. A cooling and fragmenting apparatus consisting of a casing composed of a plurality of water cooled boshesvrseparately' removable from acarrying frame, and a water cooled roller havmg a spiral surface corrugation arranged wlthm saldl casing and spaced atan interval 'fronfthe 'iniier wall of the casing and rotatable within the casing;

3. he method herein described vof treating molten sla-g which consists in causing vit to solidify, and subjecting it as it solidiiies to crushing stress.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand. A HENRY C. CRONEMEYER.

Vitnesses:

BAYARD H. CHRISTY, PERCY A. ENGLISH. 

